2020 Tokyo logo plagiarism case set for February

The court hearing in the plagiarism case taken by a Belgian graphic designer against the International Olympic Committee over a logo for the Tokyo 2020 Games will take place in Liege next February, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Olivier Debie filed a lawsuit in a Belgian court in August alleging that Japanese designer Kenjiro Sano's Olympic design was plagiarised from the logo Debie made for a theatre in the Belgian city of Liege.

Late on Monday, just hours before a preliminary hearing, the theatre announced it was dropping out of the case.

Tokyo Olympic logo designer Kenjiro Sano explains his design during a press conference at the headquarters of Tokyo 2020 on August 5, 2015

Toru Yamanaka, AFP/File

Debie's lawyer, Philippe Mottard, however told AFP his client was still pursuing his case, and the first hearing will take place on February 2.

Last month Tokyo's Olympic committee dropped the scandal-hit logo, but insisted the move was not in response to the legal action and that the designs were different.